Effectiveness of United Nation's Missions in Africa: A Comparative Assessment of UNAMSIL, MONUC, and UNAMID

摘要

United Nations (UN) missions in Africa reflect the changing nature of post-Cold War peacekeeping operations that involve large-scale deployment of UN peacekeepers to settle mostly intrastate conflicts. The main question this thesis addresses is as follows: 'What are some of the factors that determine the success or contribute to the failure of UN peacekeeping missions in Africa.' The UN has been called upon to intervene and to 'maintain peace and security' in Africa on many occasions by providing resources and peacekeepers. However, without a framework of intervention to resolve such conflicts, UN peacekeeping operations have been inconsistent at best, resulting in some mission failures and some mission successes. Based on a thorough assessment of three case studies of United Nations missions in Africa -- the United Nations Assistance Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), and the United Nations African Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) -- the author has identified eight factors which, in his view, can contribute to the effectiveness of UN missions in Africa. These factors are the effectiveness of the UN mandates, the control of natural resources found in the mission area that are fueling the conflict, the commitment to peace agreements by main actors, the capacity and capability of the UN mission peacekeepers, the effectiveness of economic embargoes and sanctions, the influence of main actors and the cooperation of regional actors, the effectiveness of UN leadership in the mission, and the effectiveness of regional organizations' intervention in the mission area before the deployment of UN peacekeepers.